The Death of Festivals

[Drunk Monk]

Sick New World 2025 Canceled Just Weeks After Unveiling Impressive Lineup
By Katrina Nattress
December 2, 2024
Photo: Hulton Archive
Sick New World is getting canceled just weeks after announcing an impressive lineup that included Linkin Park and Metallica as headliners. The festival shared the unfortunate news on its official website.
“It is with great disappointment that we announce that Sick New World will no longer take place in Las Vegas on April 12, 2025. Despite our best efforts, we’ve encountered unforeseen circumstances that we are unable to overcome for next year’s show," read the statement. “We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the dedicated SNW fans who had made plans to join us for another cultural celebration of hard rock, goth, alternative, and heavy music. Please stay tuned for further and future information regarding Sick New World. Tickets purchased directly from Front Gate Tickets will be automatically refunded to the original method of payment in as little as 30 days.”
Sick New World was set to take place at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on April 12, 2025 and feature more than 50 acts. This would have been the festival's third year, after launching as a nu-metal fest in 2023. Evanescence, Queens Of The Stone Age, Gojira, AFI The Flaming Lips, the Sisters Of Mercy, Meshuggah, Cradle Of Filth, X, Refused, Cannibal Corpse and Lacuna Coil were some of the other big names slated to play.

For me, 2024 will be remembered for the death of many festivals. 
SNWMF http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...454&page=8
Lucidity http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...5#pid73805
Skulls & Roses http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...1#pid71561

[Drunk Monk]

Slightly OT

Remains of festival-goer found 6 years after vanishing — 100 yards from his campsite
By 
Patrick Reilly
Published Jan. 3, 2025, 1:44 p.m. ET

The remains of a man who vanished at a Michigan music festival more than six years ago have finally been found — just 100 yards from where he had camped, according to his family.
Kevin Graves was 28 when his girlfriend reported him missing after they argued at the Electric Forest music festival in Rothbury in July 2018, according to cops and his dad, who was worried his son might abuse drugs at the festival.
His family never gave up hope he’d be found, handing out flyers at the same festival the next year and even putting up billboards seeking help.
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Graves was last seen on July 1, 2018.Facebook/Kellie Graves
Graves’ remains have finally been found and identified Thursday through dental records, Michigan State Police confirmed — only further frustrating his grieving family that they were randomly discovered so close to where he vanished.
“It was 100 yards from his campsite and hunters found human remains,” his sister Kellie Graves told WOOD-TV.
“I think his clothes were still there and they found his wallet and cellphone as well,” she said, adding to the mystery of how they could have been missed for so many years.
“Where was this six years ago when we said he didn’t just run away? I mean they could have pulled phone records, they could’ve pinged his phone,” she asked. 
“We would not have had to wait six and a half years for this and it’s really frustrating.”
Kellie Graves said that while “the closure feels good” to know her brother’s fate, “that hope we had that he might turn up one day is gone and it’s very sad and my parents are really struggling.”
The cause of death has not been determined — but police do not suspect foul play.
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Graves was at the music festival with his girlfriend when he vanished.WOOD-TV
“I am going to miss his smile,” his sister said of the “happy-go-lucky” guy with “the biggest heart.”
Cops and Graves’ family previously said he argued with his girlfriend before he vanished.
But his dad, Gary Graves, previously said his biggest worry had been that “there would be drugs and stuff” at the festival.
“I told him, you know, ‘Be careful. Don’t get yourself hooked up on something that you’re going to regret,'” the dad told Local 4 in 2019
“He said, ‘No, I’m just going to go up there and have a good time, Dad.’”
4
Forensic anthropologists from Western Michigan University identified the remains as Graves’.WOOD-TV
4
Graves’ sister said her brother’s remains were found just 100 yards from his campsite.WOOD-TV
The dad also previously recalled getting an ominous text from his son the day he disappeared.
“All it said was, ‘Dad, I love you for your service. I love you and someday I will pay you back everything I owe you,’” Gary Graves said.
“That was the last thing I heard from him. I texted him back and I never got any answers back.”
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What do you think? Post a comment.
Police do not appear to have addressed why his remains were not found during earlier searches.

[Drunk Monk]

Vicious trend claims another California music festival

The moon begins to rise over the Sunset Campout in Belden, Calif.
Courtesy of Robin Russell
By Silas Valentino,Travel EditorApril 15, 2025

A small yet beloved music festival hosted in a remote Sierra Nevada Gold Rush town announced it’s bidding farewell following a 16-year run. In June, after the last person dusts themself off and leaves the riverbanks by Belden, a tiny town in Plumas County, the Sunset Campout festival is pulling the plug. 
Launched by a pair of San Francisco DJs and producers who go by Sunset Sound System, the festival’s organizers said they made the decision due to several reasons, such as event competition and sluggish ticket sales, as it becomes more complicated to produce smaller, independent festivals in California. 
“It’s the sweet 16,” co-founder Galen Abbott told SFGATE. “We’re all very passionate about this, and we’re calling it the ‘end of a cycle.’ Maybe we’ll come back in a few years, but it feels like it’s ready. We’re going to give it this one last year to put everything we’ve done all together and bring it all home.”
The final Sunset Campout, with a theme called Star Family Zenith, is scheduled for the June 20 weekend along the North Fork Feather River, about 200 miles northeast of San Francisco. Abbott and co-founder Solar Langevin started hosting campouts in 2009 as an offshoot of their Sunset Sound System events, which have included renegades and daytime raves in San Francisco since the 1990s.
The pair first started hosting their summertime campouts in Willits, in Mendocino County, before finding a home in the Sierra. Their campouts go late into the night, with DJs performing on two stages, and feature elaborate light shows, custom art pieces, and a space called the Faerie Ring that hosts yoga, meditation, creative conscious workshops and ceremonies.
A DJ performing during the Sunset Campout in Belden, Calif.
Courtesy of Robin Russell
A sound bath at the Faerie Ring during the Sunset Campout in Belden, Calif.
Courtesy of Robin Russell
Since the first event in 2009, the Sunset Campout has been fully embraced by Belden, a census-designated place with about 15 people that has a rich gold mining history. The festival is held near a one-lane bridge built in 1937 — a martini glass adorning the bridge top — that crosses the river near the town’s only major establishment, the Belden Town Resort and Lodge.
Jayme Kaufman, the resort’s manager, told SFGATE that she loves the annual event and that festivalgoers continue to return in the offseason. “Half the people still come up because they love this place so much,” she said. “So many people got married at the resort after meeting there. I know of 20 different weddings from people meeting at Sunset.”
Abbott and Langevin said the event’s capacity is roughly 1,500 people, and it takes about 500 people to put it on. Sunset Campout is supported by the sale of 900 or so tickets, but Abbott said they lost money for the first time last year. 
“That was hard,” he said. “It wasn’t just one thing that shifted. There’s a shift in the entire socioeconomic climate in the Bay Area that was happening before the pandemic.” 
Sunset co-founders Solar Langevin (left) and Galen Abbott are credited with shaping West Coast rave culture.
Courtesy of Sunset Campout
Abbott explained that the Sunset festival is passionate about music that doesn’t have a mainstream appeal and that, since 2009, many more summer events have been competing for ticket sales. Moreover, Abbott has noticed that people have started purchasing tickets much closer to the event date, which puts a strain on festival finances and planning. 
Similar trends have impacted several festivals throughout California, including the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, Lucidity Festival and even Coachella, which did not sell out the past two years. 
Tickets for the last campout start at $374, with volunteer or payment plans available. After their final event in June, Abbott is considering relocating to Amsterdam to be near family, and Langevin said he will still be involved with local events. He said that San Francisco has been “club oriented” for a long time, but there’s a burgeoning niche of like-minded independent crews. 
“As far as the San Francisco scene, it’s thriving right now, but it’s more like we used to be back in the day with warehouse parties and renegades,” Langevin said. He mentioned that he’s seeing more renegades in East Bay warehouses as crews like Parameter host bigger events and underground radio platform SutroFM brings people together. 
The Sunset Campout festival takes place near a bridge in Belden, Calif.
Courtesy of Robin Russell
For their part, Sunset is credited with shaping West Coast rave culture by helping to introduce Chicago acid house and European techno to San Francisco and promoting a scene that blends backgrounds. And Abbott and Langevin insisted that although the campout is coming to a close, Sunset will continue to produce other annual events, like the Spring Celebration in Yerba Buena Gardens in downtown San Francisco.
“We bring people together in events that other events haven’t. It’s very San Francisco, West Coast,” Abbott said. “It’s very mixed with a thriving queer culture in the Bay. We made an effort to keep those scenes integrating. It’s been a special part of people feeling accepted on all sides. It’s not easily done, and it’s something we’ve been able to do in a way that felt really great. There’s saying it, and then there’s people who embody it.”
Even for Kaufman, who said she doesn’t usually attend events like the Sunset Campout, the Belden resident said the shows were irresistible.
“It’s the end of an era or something,” she said, adding that, “If you want to see one of the most amazing light shows in the world, come to Sunset. It’s so dialed in perfectly. Those guys know what they’re doing. I stay up until 1 a.m. and then get up at 4 a.m. to cook breakfast for them.”

Never even heard of this one.

[Drunk Monk]

Bonnaroo 2025 Canceled Due To Weather After One Full Day
Andrew O'Brien | Friday, June 13th, 2025
Photo via Bonnaroo Facebook – Bonnaroo

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On Friday evening, Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival organizers canceled the remainder of the 2025 event after persistent rain hammered its Manchester, TN home, The Farm, throughout the afternoon and “[deteriorated] camping and egress conditions.” The annual event, which started on Thursday, was due to continue through Sunday night.
After evacuating the concert area, Centeroo, in the early afternoon, festival organizers had advised attendees to remain in their vehicles until further notice. The cancellation announcement arrived just after 7:30 p.m CT via the festival’s social media.
In addition to announcing the cancellation of the remainder of the 2025 festival, Bonnaroo detailed refunds for ticket-holders. All 1-Day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Admission tickets purchased via Front Gate Tickets and 1-Day Friday, Saturday and Sunday Day Parking purchased via Front Gate Tickets will be refunded. All 4-Day Admission Tickets purchased via Front Gate Tickets will receive a 75% refund. All 4-Day camping accommodations purchased via Front Gate Tickets will receive a 75% refund. All refunds will be processed in as little as 30 days to the original method of payment.
Prior to today’s pause and the eventual weekend cancellation, Friday’s Bonnaroo schedule was due to feature performances by Tyler, the Creator, John Summit, Glass Animals, Goose, Tipper, Rainboy Kitten Surprise, Megadeth, and more. Saturday’s lineup was scheduled to include Olivia Rodrigo, Avril Lavigne, Justice, Nelly, Glorilla, Mt. Joy, RL Grime, Beabadoobee, Tyla, Jessie Murph, Modest Mouse, Dope Lemon, Action Bronson, and more. On Sunday, Hozier, Vampire Weekend, Queens of the Stone Age, LSZEE, Remi Wolf, Raye, Royel Otis, Dispatch, Role Model, Barry Can’t Swim, Big Gigantic, and more were set to perform.
Read the full cancellation announcement from Bonnaroo below.
Today, the National Weather Service provided us with an updated forecast with significant and steady precipitation that will produce deteriorating camping and egress conditions in the coming days. We are beyond gutted, but we must make the safest decision and cancel the remainder of Bonnaroo.
We are going to make things right with you, and you will find refund information at the end of this message, but let’s start with the next steps.
The number one thing we need from the Bonnaroo community is patience. Some of your fellow campers’ sites are in rough shape. The rain has settled in areas and made certain parts of Outeroo difficult to manage. We’d like to prioritize getting those folks as well as those with accessibility needs off The Farm as soon as possible this evening.
To do this, we ask that if your campsite is in good shape or if you’re in an RV or pre-pitched accommodation, please consider spending the night with us and we’ll start working to get you out of here safely tomorrow. 
We will continue to operate as usual in Outeroo including food vendors and all health and safety infrastructure.
We have put our hearts and souls into making this weekend the most special one of the year, and cannot express how crushed we are to have to make this decision. Thank you in advance for your patience, your positivity and your unfailing Bonnaroovian spirit

[thatguy]

"Bummeroo"

--tg

[King Bob]

Yeah. I saw a video on Instagram where water several inches deep was flowing through people's tents.

[Drunk Monk]

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Change Plan for Full Refunds, Not Announcing Future Dates Yet

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is now giving 100 percent refunds after the four-day festival was canceled earlier this month after its first day due to severe weather.
However, the festival was originally only going to issue 75 percent refunds, which caused backlash from attendees. “We want you to know that we’re still listening and actively discussing plans to improve The Farm that we love so much. At this time, we will not be announcing future dates. When plans for the future take shape, you all will be the first to know,” reads a statement from Bonnaroo’s Instagram, posted on Friday. “For now, we are updating the refund to 100 percent, rather than the 75 percent originally offered.”
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The festival was held in Manchester, Tennessee, and was set to have performances by Olivia Rodrigo and Hozier Tyler, the Creator, John Summit, Dom Dolla, Vampire Weekend, GloRilla, Tyla, Avril Lavigne, Glass Animals and more. Luke Combs was the only one of its headliners able to perform.

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“Everyone who works on this show loves Bonnaroo deeply. Some of us have been here since the early years, some were fans first, and some fell in love with it as soon as they felt your energy and spirit on The Farm,” the statement continued. “We look forward to this show all year. It’s what reenergizes us and restores our faith in community every single summer. Our main goal is to give you the most memorable weekend of our lives every year.”
“This cancellation broke our hearts beyond measure, but we knew it had to happen for your safety. Thank you for your patience and perseverance through this difficult situation,” the post concluded.

At least they're doing refunds...

[Drunk Monk]

After headliner drops out, hyped-up San Francisco festival scrubs social media

The event is still happening, but it's changed names, moved to a smaller venue and gone incognito

By Timothy Karoff, Culture ReporterJune 25, 2025
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FILE: Kehlani performs at Stormzy's 'This Is What We Mean Day' during All Points East Festival 2023 at Victoria Park on August 18, 2023 in London, England. 
Jim Dyson/Getty Images

For a moment, [url=https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/massive-pride-music-festival-announced-sf-20263395.php]SoSF looked like it was going to be San Francisco’s next big music festival.
When promoters announced the Pride-themed event in early April, all the indications were positive. SoSF featured an impressive lineup of local talent, with pop juggernauts Kehlani, Kim Petras and Tinashe as headliners. The event would take place on Pier 80, the sprawling grounds of San Francisco’s 45,000-attendee Portola Festival.
Now, less than a week out from the big day, SoSF’s digital footprint has all but vanished. At a moment when any comparable event would be mounting a last-minute social media push to sell tickets, SoSF has instead deleted every single post from its official Instagram account. Kehlani, who was one of the event’s co-presenters and headliners, has dropped out, as have two performers, one of whom was listed as one of the event’s organizers.
SoSF has even changed its name, rebranding as SF Pride Block Party, and moved from Pier 80 to an outdoor area of the Midway, a venue across the street and one of the event’s organizers. SFGATE reached out to SoSF and the Midway and did not receive a response in time for publication.
The event is still slated to take place on Saturday, June 28, but due to what appear to be political disagreements between talent and organizers, the event will look very different from the festival announced in April.
‘This is supposed to be a Pride event’
The trouble began in May. Kehlani had been vocal in their support of Palestinians since the start of the war in Gaza. In 2024, the artist posted a video on Instagram, in which they said, “It’s f—k Israel, and it’s f—k Zionism and it’s also f—k a lot of y’all too,” referring to artists who stayed quiet on the war in Gaza. One of Kehlani’s music videos uses the phrase “long live the Intifada,” a reference to Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation.
In the spring, Kehlani came under fire for their statements. The artist was scheduled to perform at Cornell University on May 7, but Cornell’s president canceled their performance, a decision he attributed to what he characterized as Kehlani’s “antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments.” A few weeks later, the administration of New York City Mayor Eric Adams pressured a nonprofit organization to cancel a Kehlani performance, citing “security concerns.” 
In an attempt to address the controversy surrounding the headliner, SoSF ended up alienating its followers. In mid-May, the event’s promoters released a since-deleted statement on social media.
“While we fundamentally disagree with the kind of language Kehlani has used to speak on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we chose to engage with her team, rather than withdraw her invitation to perform,” the festival’s organizers wrote. 
A joint statement by Kehlani and the festival was also included in an effort to smooth over any new criticism.
“No person should ever fall casualty of a war they did not choose and do not support,” the statement said. “This sentiment extends to Jewish people, the same way it extends to Palestinian people, the same way it extends to all people.”
That statement triggered the chain of events that led San Francisco DJ Adam Kraft, founder of the event company Fake and Gay, to pull out of the SoSF lineup. According to Kraft, SoSF’s words frustrated locals, who took issue with the festival’s decision to align itself, even partially, with Cornell and other groups that had condemned Kehlani’s stances on the war.
“Everybody kind of piled on them in the comments,” he said. “I think there were hundreds of comments like, ‘What do you mean? What language?’”
For Kraft, who maintains a firm pro-Palestinian stance, that statement was frustrating. Recently, he performed at a party with several other DJs boycotting a Boiler Room show that was planned to take place in San Francisco. (Earlier this year, Boiler Room was purchased by Superstruct Entertainment, which is in turn owned by KKR, a private equity firm whose investments are tied to classified ads for Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a data center in Israel and defense technologies.)
After SoSF’s statement, strangers were messaging him on Instagram and confronting him over his association with the event. Kraft asked SoSF’s organizers to issue another statement clarifying what they meant, to no avail.
“This is supposed to be a Pride event, and you’re not listening to us,” he recalled thinking. “You’re not listening to the hundreds of people in the comments, the whole community that you’re supposed to be representing during Pride.”
In some respects, this episode mirrored an earlier, more minor controversy. When SoSF was first announced, its flyer initially listed Downtown First Thursdays as one of the organizers. Downtown First Thursdays is run in part by Manny Yekutiel, whose cafe in the Mission is subject to a boycott over Yekutiel’s past statements on Israel. In 2017, Yekutiel posted on Facebook, asking for recommendations for “good Zionist organizations in the Bay where I can plug in and help.” 
In 2019, he clarified his stance in another post: “The way I was raised, the word zionism meant a belief in the right of the state of Israel to exist (to the extent that you believe that any ‘state’ should exist in this post-colonial world in what is almost universally stolen land) and not a blanket support of the actions of the Israeli government and/or military.”
In November 2023, Yekutiel stated in a social media post that he supported a ceasefire in exchange for the return of the hostages held by Hamas. During an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest earlier this month, his cafe, Manny’s, was vandalized. Two windows were smashed, and the cafe was spray painted with the messages “F—k Manny” and “The only good settler is a dead 1.”
Kraft said he did not know of Downtown First Thursdays’ involvement until the flyer was released, but he received a flood of Instagram DMs asking why he was partnering with the group for the event. He expressed his concerns about collaborating with Downtown First Thursdays to the Midway. After some back and forth, the Midway told Kraft that the group was no longer part of SoSF.
Civic Space Foundation, one of the nonprofits behind Downtown First Thursdays, did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
‘Two totally different events’
On May 21, the Midway informed Kraft that Kehlani was no longer part of the lineup, and that SoSF would now be a block party at the Midway. Kraft said that the organizers did not explain whether Kehlani had dropped out of the event or whether they had removed her from the lineup. For Kraft and Nicki Jizz, the drag queen who founded San Francisco’s all-Black drag show, Reparations, that was the tipping point. Shortly after they heard the news, Kraft and Nicki Jizz followed suit. Nicki Jizz was not available for an interview for this article.
“We just didn’t want to be aligned with an event that could be even questionably Zionist,” Kraft explained. “Even if they weren’t outwardly Zionist, it just felt very icky.”
An exterior of the Midway, the San Francisco music venue where the festival formerly known as SoSF is scheduled to take place on Saturday.
Google Street View
Two weeks later, on June 5, SoSF publicly announced Kehlani’s departure in a now-deleted Instagram post, stating that “Kehlani has decided to no longer be a part of the line-up” and informing ticket holders that refunds would be available upon request. A spokesperson for the event told the San Francisco Standard that the split was an “amicable decision.” Representatives for Kehlani did not return SFGATE’s request for comment. 
The new poster for the event lists the Berlin DJ Horsegiirl as a special guest.
From there, the organizers’ decision-making process is a mystery. By the week of June 16, SoSF had liquidated its social media presence. It’s possible that the event went incognito after Kehlani dropped out to avoid further scrutiny online. As of Wednesday morning, the cheapest tier of general admission tickets had sold out, per the event’s ticketing page.
On Sunday, after the dust had settled, a Reddit user posted on r/AskSF about the festival under the title “SoSF/Pride Block party status?”
“Can someone update me on what’s happening with the SoSF pride party?” the user wrote. “I followed Kehlani pulling out and some tone deaf statements from organizers but is the whole thing being boycotted or are people still going?”
“Those are two totally different events,” another user replied. It’s an incorrect response, but it’s hard not to get the same impression.

Confusing. I thought this was the Portola Festival, which I've heard some buzz on (some good, some poor - Portola did garner some decent acts and I would've worked it if given the opportunity).